Innholdsfortegnelse for May/Jun 2025 i Bicycling South Africa

STICKY-SWEET SPORTS DRINKS and hydration tablets can turn your cycling water bottles into incubators for bacteria and mould that will linger longer with every ride. At best, your drink will begin to taste terrible and discourage you from hydrating enough on your ride; at worst, you may experience an upset stomach or nausea, or even an allergic reaction to the mould! To learn more about how to clean a water bottle, we sat down with Ryan Jones, director of bottle development and operations at Specialized, and Seth Beiden, former marketing manager at CamelBak. Here are their expert tips for keeping your bottles fresh, clean, and in good shape for years of use. HOW TO CLEAN A WATER BOTTLE You should wash your bottle after every ride, as you would a…

THIS IS MY RAT BIKE. I even refer to it as that under my ‘Equipment’ tab on Strava. It’s an aluminium Orbea ‘aero’ frame from an unknown era that was transformed from bike-room junk into a rideable single-speed, thanks to some clever modification by Nils Hansen at Woodstock Cycleworks in Cape Town. The wheels that now do duty on The Rat were also gathering dust in a garage, so the only components I needed were brakes and levers. The space on the side of the downtube, usually reserved for a brand name, was decorated by my seven-year-old daughter before the 2023 Cape Town Cycle Tour. Those felt stickers have remained intact ever since. I was able to ride the entire Cycle Tour on it that year – largely due to…

TADEJ POGAČAR, ADAM YATES, MATT BEERS, CHRIS FROOME, and indeed anyone who has benefited from the training programmes of Science to Sport… you all owe Kevin Costner a thank you. It was his role as sports physician Marcus Sommers in the iconic cycling movie American Flyers – plus watching the Tour de France every year – that inspired Jeroen Swart to become a sports scientist. “In my head, I wanted to win the Tour de France – and I also wanted to be the guy that Kevin Costner was in the movie, the guy who knew everything about sport,” says Swart. “I was 11 at the time; and now, holy shit, nearly 40 years later, everything I’ve done has led to this moment.” What does the role ‘Head of Performance’ at…

1. TYRE WIDTH Narrow tyres measuring 23-25mm across used to be the norm. Raise your hand if you’ve ever ridden the Cape Town Cycle Tour on brutally hard 23mm Continentals? That was the traditional racing way – narrow meant lower weight and lower aerodynamic drag, but less comfort. Times have changed. Tyres are now much wider. New bikes with disc brakes are specced with 28- to 32mm tyres, and preliminary research (see opposite page) shows that you might be able to go even wider. Wider tyres offer more grip, more comfort, and lower rolling resistance, especially on rougher roads. 2. TUBELESS VS CLINCHER Traditionally, unless you were racing on tubular tyres – which had to be glued to a special rim – the standard road tyre was a clincher, designed…

HERE’S THE DEAL: DURING A RIDE, your nether regions are rubbing against your shorts; you’re sweating; and depending on the type of ride, you may be adding water, mud or dust into the mix. Perching on the saddle and pedalling causes friction between your skin and your shorts – even if your shorts and saddle are perfect for you. This means you’re getting tiny little microtears in your skin, while also sweating and creating a warm, damp environment for bacteria to proliferate. What could go wrong? When you finish a ride, getting clean and dry ‘down there’ is key to avoiding saddle sores, rashes and other fun bacterial/fungal situations. We’re not judging if you hang out with friends for a few minutes after the ride in your kit; but if…

THE DESERT IS AN UNFORGIVING LANDSCAPE… …that strips you down to your bare essentials and teaches you the meaning of resilience. Riding through the Namib with my loyal dog Rocky, I couldn’t help but think of The Sheltering Desert, a 1957 memoir by German geologist Hanno Martin. His tale of survival and adaptation in the harsh Namibian wilderness echoed my own journey, offering an unexpected connection between my adventure now and his time hiding in the desert to avoid internment during World War II. I dubbed our adventure ‘Rocky’s Ride’ – an unsupported 1 200km bikepacking trek from Swakopmund to the Orange River. I’d be following a route called ‘SAND Segment 4’, which was pioneered by Capetonian Johan Wahl and is featured on bikepacking.com. I’d be doing the route in…

THE OLD SAYING ‘WHEN AMERICA SNEEZES, the world catches a cold’ has never been more appropriate than today. But if we may be so bold as to direct the metaphor towards a cycling context, it would sound something like ‘When Tadej adopts, the cycling world sits up and takes notice’. This is certainly the case when it comes to crank length, after Tadej Pogačar – who in 2025 has already won the UAE Tour, Strade Bianche and the Tour of Flanders – moved from a ‘standard’ crank length of 172.5mm to 170mm, and then in 2024 to 165mm. But tongues really started to wag this year when Jonas Vingegaard was spotted using tiny 150mm cranks at the Volta ao Algarve in February. Was he setting a new trend? Was he…

1. WEIGHT Making a decision here largely comes down to what kind of riding you plan to do. If you want to ride enduro-style trails in a full-face helmet and knee guards, you want tyres with strong sidewalls that won’t be shredded by rocks. No surprise, these also happen to be the heaviest. If you want to ride XC-style races, however, you’ll generally choose lighter tyres to make the climbing easier, at the expense of some puncture protection and durability. It all comes down to TPI, or threads per inch, which refers to the number of threads (or strands of fabric) woven into one inch of a tyre’s casing. The higher the TPI, the finer and more tightly woven the threads, which generally means that the tyre is lighter and…

ROUBAIX ROYALTY All eyes were on Tadej Pogačar at this year’s Paris-Roubaix – it was the first time a defending Tour de France champion had raced the ‘Hell of the North’ since Greg LeMond in 1991 – but Dutch superstar Mathieu van der Poel proved too strong on the day. With a total distance of 259.2km (and a bone-jarring 55.3km of that on cobbles), at 50km remaining the peloton had been whittled down to Pogačar and Van der Poel at the head of the field. But at 38km, Pog ran wide on a corner and crashed, allowing Van der Poel to build a 20-second gap – and extend it – to win his third straight Roubaix title. ASO/PAULINE BALLET WHERE DREAMS ARE DASHED The Forest of Arenberg at Paris-Roubaix is…

IF WE ASKED YOU WHAT the most important muscle is for stronger cycling, the quads, hamstrings, or even the calves might be what come to mind. After all, your legs do a significant share of the labour through every pedal stroke. But what if we told you your legs shouldn’t be getting all the glory? One of the most critical muscles for any cyclist is one that most of us never even think about, let alone train. The diaphragm is a dome-shaped muscle that sits below the lungs, and it’s our primary respiratory muscle. When the diaphragm activates as we inhale, the dome flattens and descends, expanding the rib cage and chest cavity and allowing the lungs to expand and fill with air. As we exhale, the diaphragm returns to…

THE STUFF I SPLURGE ON BIKE FIT → I spend hours and hours on a bike, and I want every minute to be as comfortable and fun as possible. For a long time, I used the fit I developed by listening to my body, and that worked okay; but it always seemed like there was more potential than I could find on my own. A professional fit unlocked that potential. The fitter made a series of adjustments that led to noticeably better performance and comfort. My new, better fit was especially noticeable on long rides and after unbroken blocks of riding. But bike fits aren't one-and-done. Ten years after getting my last fit, I went through a new fit consultation; which, like last time, resulted in a handful of tweaks…

FOR MOST SOUTH AFRICAN CYCLING AFICIONADOS, Kevin Vermaak needs no introduction. But just in case you’ve forgotten, here’s a refresher. He’s the man who turned a crazy mountain-biking idea into the Absa Cape Epic – one of the world’s greatest cycling events, and one that attracts the global elite to local shores where they choose to spend a week suffering under the African sun. Lately, however, he’s turned his attention away from XC machines to gravel bikes. His newest innovation is the Nedbank Gravel Burn, a seven-day gravel race that will take riders on a journey from Knysna to Shamwari Private Game Reserve via the Great Karoo. “I enjoy thinking of new ideas, and solving the problems that inevitably arise,” he says. “As an example: we needed water for one…

■ WHERE? Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve is just outside the town of Heidelberg, about 70km south of Joburg’s suburbs. Access the reserve via the R550. ■ DISTANCE: About 60km for the full loop, which is made up of a punchy 10km loop and a more undulating 50km loop. ■ ELEVATION GAIN: About 700m ■ GATE TIMES: 7am–4pm on weekdays; 6 am–4 pm on weekends (Exit by 6 pm latest). Call ahead to check times to avoid disappointment (011 439 6300). ■ ENTRANCE FEES: R45 per adult; R35 for pensioners and kids aged 3-11. Enquire about an annual pass. ■ FRIENDS OF SUIKERBOSRAND. This volunteer organisation plays a vital role in supporting the reserve. Visit friendsofsuikerbosrand.co.za and follow them on social media to stay informed about the latest developments and contribute to their…

1 Wakey, wakey. Photography is almost entirely about light. Composition is important, and so is a whole bunch of other stuff they teach you at art school, but light always wins. Luckily for us cyclists, we’re often out on the roads and trails at sunrise and sunset, when the light is best. Be most alert for photo opportunities at these moments. When it’s hot and the sun is high, those opportunities tend to dry up. 2 Buttons, baby. On most phones, you can take a photo using a button instead of tapping the screen. In general, for iPhone and Android, either of the two volume buttons will snap a pic. With your phone in one hand while you’re riding, it’s far easier to feel for a button than to have…